Blue Stars

When Lance woke up, the first thing he noticed was the darkness. Not a normal, outside darkness like the night, but an unnatural one.

You know, the kind when you turn the light off in an empty room or when someone covers your eyes. That kind of darkness.

It takes a while for his eyes to adjust, but then he wished they hadn’t. The room was small and appeared to be a shade of dark purple. A galran cell. Another room, another chamber, another position in this vast cosmos.

That definitely did not help his sudden anxiety. He tried to stand up, but his legs weren’t having it and fell right back down.

The more he tried to move, the more his body weighed him down. It was like he was sinking . . .

Sinking . . .

Sinking . . .

And the water was all he saw.

Lance usually loved the water, and his favorite was the rain. He loved the way the rain splattered on his skin and the sound of it hitting the earth beneath him, reassured him.

But it was different now.

He was trapped beneath the waves, falling to the ocean floor like a rock.

His body was incompetent in his fight against the sea, his long limbs full of metaphorical lead. His voice, his screams, were lost in the void of limitless water.

He couldn’t do it. He failed, and this was his punishment.

Did he ever do anything right?

Or, was his life always under the waves?

Was he always this cold?

His vision was gone now, replaced with the looming darkness of his future.

His last thoughts before the fall being: Where did I go wrong?

He wasn’t scared when he came to. He was more -detached, he guessed.

He messed with the thick rope around his wrists. It held fast, only resulting in rubbing his already raw wrists.

His surroundings hadn’t changed yet, but that meant nothing. They’d come for him sooner or later. They always did.

Then he wouldn’t be left alone, so he was grateful for the inattention.

He was still bored though.

The sentries were most likely still outside, but he couldn’t tell. He wondered what ship he was in. But then again, his cell could be on a stray planet, maybe another galaxy.

He looked around the cell again, taking in more than he did the first time.

The room was about the size of an average car. It was decorated in a dark- almost black- purple with lighter undertones as needed. There were also small bench seats off to the side as well, again, obeying the current color scheme. And if he looked far enough, he could see the outline of a door he couldn’t open, much less escape from.

He let out a small sigh. It wasn’t like the others would rescue him anyway. They didn’t really care.

His thoughts roamed - he hated when they did that - to other things. He wasn’t sure how long he had been gone; a week? A month? A year? Time was irrelevant here, and they probably weren’t even trying anyway.

There was a bang that startled him, causing him to jump, awaiting what came next. Bang! Bang! Bang! Each and everyone causing him to jump higher, and his premonitions becoming clearer and making more sense as they became louder and closer.

He then noticed that everything grew to be unnatural under his gaze; focusing and unfocusing, blurry and clear, real and fake. His chest tightened as he struggled to take deep breaths and black spots appeared in his vision.

The last thing he saw was a flash of white, and he was gone.